# What does "Roll the dice" mean to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 25, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021 "2014-07-25T13:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/1 "2014-07-25T13:47:20Z")
When heard, would you mentally assume more than one die? Would you use the phrase to mean justr one die? ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/2 "2014-07-25T13:51:03Z")
I always picture craps or gaming dice. So, two or more 4-100 sided dice. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/3 "2014-07-25T13:51:26Z")
It depends entirely on what game one is playing at the time. If it’s D&D, it’s prolly just one die, presumably a d20. If it’s Shadowrun it’s (hopefully) a bunch of dice. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/4 "2014-07-25T13:59:38Z")
Multiple dice, otherwise I would use the related cliché of “the die is cast.” ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/5 "2014-07-25T13:59:41Z")
When referring to 6-sided cubes with dots, numbers, letters, or symbols on them, “Dice” is plural in the U.S… “Die” would be singular and the phrase, “roll the dice” means to gamble on the outcome of something. ---
**Author:** ![HipGnosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/76d3ee/32.png) [@HipGnosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HipGnosis)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/6 "2014-07-25T14:04:42Z")
Dice is the plural of die. As in the a Latin phrase; The die is cast (“Alea iacta est”), attributed by Suetonius to Julius. It’s a plural word so I’d deduce they meant plural die. But I do tend to take things literally. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/7 "2014-07-25T14:07:44Z")
I’ve never th ought of the term as literally rolling dice, but simply alluding to doing something in which you know that there is a possibility of either a positive or a negative result, but you go ahead and do it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/8 "2014-07-25T14:13:19Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Multiple dice, otherwise I would use the related cliché of “the die is cast.” IMNSHO, the difference between “roll the dice” and “the die is cast” is tense, not plurality. Roll the dice refers to an action I might take in the future. Example: This is risky, but I might roll the dice. The die is cast, refers to an action I have already taken. Example: Too late to turn back now, the die is cast. In both cases, it’s two six sided dice. Unless it’s a saving throw, and that’s obviously one twenty sided die. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/9 "2014-07-25T14:14:26Z")
A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/10 "2014-07-25T14:46:41Z")
Poll results unsurprising so far, as the SDMB’s basic literacy is exceeded only by its pedantry. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/11 "2014-07-25T15:05:37Z")
I guess I don’t get the question. “Dice” is plural, period. Using “die” may be pedantic (or just literate) but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything formally written or stated where “dice” meant “one die.” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/12 "2014-07-25T15:07:53Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. His opinion literally made my head explode. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/13 "2014-07-25T15:09:20Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. We have a word for the singular form of dice, it’s “die”. I don’t remember anyone saying “one dice” in the past, so it’s not some big new language movement. It would be like saying “one mice” or “one knives”. It’s plain stupid. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/14 "2014-07-25T15:22:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > His opinion literally made my head explode. I seen what you done there. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/15 "2014-07-25T15:23:19Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. So _that’s_ why you were shouting “ **Die! Die! Die!** ” at him. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/16 "2014-07-25T15:28:09Z")
> [@Macca26](#): > > We have a word for the singular form of dice, it’s “die”. I don’t remember anyone saying “one dice” in the past, so it’s not some big new language movement. It would be like saying “one mice” or “one knives”. It’s plain stupid. I’d suggest, based on an admittedly non-random sample, that most non-gamer people don’t know that the singular of “dice” is “die,” and haven’t for some time. So for someone saying it, I’d just chalk it up to the language changing. It would sound wrong, but I’d be unlikely to, say, correct someone who said it. A gaming manual, though, is a formal document and should get it right, and since I played a lot of dice-using games in my childhood, I’d get it right unconsciously, too. Still, this phrase comes up more in a “take a chance and accept the outcome” cliché sense than a literal one for me, in which case the number of dice is unspecified and irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/17 "2014-07-25T17:39:35Z")
I’m not a gamer, but I know and use the singular “die” and plural “dice”—though I have seen the singular dice often. Oxford Dictionaries has the following usage note at _[dice](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/dice#dice__30)_: > [@](#): > > Historically, dice is the plural of die, but in modern standard English, dice is both the singular and the plural: _‘throw the dice’_ could mean a reference to two or more dice, or to just one. In fact, the singular die (rather than dice) is increasingly uncommon. So it’s apparently not new. Notwithstanding, Bryan Garner, in _Garner’s Modern American Usage_ says, “In formal usage, the numbered cube used in games of chance is called a _die_, and two or more are _dice_. But the word _dice_ is often used sloppily as a singular” and lists this usage as Stage 2 in his Language-Change Index\*, which means “The form spreads to a significant fraction of the language community but remains unacceptable in standard usage.” I tend to agree with Garner’s “sloppily” characterization here, but hey, language does change. - Garner’s Language-Change Index has five stages, in short:[ol][_]Rejected[_]Widely Shunned[_]Widespread, but …[_]Ubiquitous but …[\*]Fully Accepted[/ol] ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/18 "2014-07-25T18:24:16Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. And he was right. To me “roll the dice” means "take a chance and then do that thing.’ But when I hear “dice” in a gaming context I assume one or more little polyhedral things. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/19 "2014-07-25T18:35:30Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > A little background to the question: I got into an argument with an admin of a (6-sided) dice based gamebook series wiki, after I insisted that the continued use of the phrase “one dice” in one of the installments was a major error, and he was of the opinion that due to the changing way people speak, it wasn’t even an error, let alone a major one. So you were arguing with someone whose job it is not only to define the rules of a universe, but to tell others how to define a universe using those rules? Was his name H. Dumpty, by any chance? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021/20 "2014-07-25T18:55:15Z")
I gave up when the Ford dealers were talking about how many Focuses they had in inventory. But yes, using dice as a singular noun marks you as a moron, even more so than this data. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-roll-the-dice-mean-to-you/694021.md?page=2)